For John McCain, the battle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama is a blessing and a curse.
On
the one hand, while Team Obama accuses "insidious[ly]" racist Clinton
of spooky secrecy and Team Clinton says the too-green Obama "really can't win the general election,"
McCain gets to kick back, relax and release videos reminding voters
that he was released from the Hanoi Hilton 35 years ago today after
more than five years of torturous captivity:
Not
only does the clip define McCain in the best possible terms--steely,
selfless war hero--but it works to frame the general election as a
debate over, as Jonathan Martin
puts it, "Big Issues like service, sacrifice and character." That's
exactly where McCain wants to be. Not Democrat versus Republican. Not
his domestic agenda versus, say, Obama's. Just "hero" versus, well,
"not hero." With a "different kind of Republican"
tour set to start in purple states next month, expect Team McCain to
keep hammering on biography and character--especially while the
Democrats keep hammering on each other.
The downside? Last week,
McCain was a significant or dominant factor in only 28 percent of news
stories about the election, according to the Pew Research Center.
Obama and Clinton? 58 and 60 percent, respectively. It's difficult to
define your candidate or frame the debate when no one's paying
attention. But that's what happens when the press doesn't have bloody
fisticuffs to feed on.
Maybe having Mike Huckabee as a "sparring partner" wasn't such a bad idea after all...
UPDATE, 5:37 p.m.: My colleague Michael Hirsh writes about the same subject in his latest column. Great minds:
Winning elections is about setting the agenda and, while creating a
positive image of oneself, negatively defining one's opponent in the
minds of the voters. This is happening for McCain—having Obama defined
as unready and Hillary as lacking in integrity—without his having to
lift a finger. If the current campaign keeps up—and there's every sign
it will—it's likely that by summer irrepressible doubts about both Dems
will have been lodged in the minds of the electorate.
That's no small
thing. Especially in this age of terror and economic uncertainty,
voters don't want doubts. They will want to pull the lever for the most
trustworthy candidate. And who's making himself seem trustworthy? Why,
John McCain, of course. Next week he's off to Europe and the Mideast to
confer with "leaders I have strong relationships with," as he put it to
reporters the other day.
Be sure to read the rest.
